 Sustainability assessment of electricity generation technologies using weighted multi-criteria decision analysisAlexandru Maxim Energy Policy, 2014, vol. 65, issue C, 284-297 Abstract: Solving the issue of environmental degradation due to the expansion of the World's energy demand requires a balanced approach. The aim of this paper is to comprehensively rank a large number of electricity generation technologies based on their compatibility with the sustainable development of the industry. The study is based on a set of 10 sustainability indicators which provide a life cycle analysis of the plants. The technologies are ranked using a weighted sum multi-attribute utility method. The indicator weights were established through a survey of 62 academics from the fields of energy and environmental science. Our results show that large hydroelectric projects are the most sustainable technology type, followed by small hydro, onshore wind and solar photovoltaic. We argue that political leaders should have a more structured and strategic approach in implementing sustainable energy policies and this type of research can provide arguments to support such decisions. Keywords: Electricity generation; Sustainable development; Multi-criteria decision analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:65:y:2014:i:c:p:284-297 DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.09.059 Access Statistics for this article Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier |
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